Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 315

Now, the golden pillars of light had only the final barrier left. KWA-KWA-KWANG! As Han Li let out a small sigh and activated the Wind Lightning Shift [a movement technique], he vanished from his spot with the sound of thunder. The place where he had been was pierced through by the pillars of light. Appearing several dozen feet away, he disappeared once more. “……!” Wen Quan paused for a moment at the sight, then, as if struck by an idea, he flickered the red flames beneath his feet and dodged. ‘Hmm?’ Almost simultaneously, Han Li, who had appeared where Wen Quan had been, was about to unleash a blue sword light from his hand but showed a look of bewilderment. Then, he activated the Wind Lightning Shift again. This time, instead of dodging, Wen Quan emitted golden light from the horn between his brows. Small mirrors simultaneously soared into the air, releasing countless golden rays to form a protective barrier large enough to cover the sky. Han Li, who appeared a dozen or so feet behind Wen Quan, was caught in it and completely trapped. He tried to escape using the Wind Lightning Shift, but it was as if his entire body was frozen, and he couldn’t move. He stretched out his hands and sent out flying swords, but the golden lights remained completely undamaged despite the rampaging blades. Han Li hurriedly spat out golden lightning the thickness of a finger from his mouth, but the golden light that enveloped him on all sides only flickered briefly and had no effect. At that moment, the protective barrier that was guarding him flickered wildly. It seemed as if it would lose its spiritual energy and allow the golden light to penetrate at any moment. Han Li, his face pale, frantically poured spiritual power into the jade pendant, and the color of the barrier gradually began to change, becoming a brilliant silver. Only then did it stand firm against the golden light without being pushed back at all. Wen Quan, as if not surprised at all, spat out hand seals with an even more vicious look. As his mirror magic treasures flew above Han Li’s head and emitted golden light, flames of the same color poured down. Now, Wen Quan also became more cautious, constantly moving his hands and forming complex hand seals. Then, drops of blood spurted from his opened mouth, and each time, Wen Quan’s complexion became paler. After spitting out blood eight times, he was completely drained of color. However, the golden flames grew more and more fierce, reaching for the sky. Wen Quan’s sinister cry was heard. “Consider it an honor to die in the legendary Golden Light Divine Flames! It’s quite impressive that you can even withstand it for a moment with your cultivation!” Wen Quan moved above the flames and sat cross-legged. However, even as he watched Wen Quan, who had closed his eyes and was fueling the flames with golden threads emitted from his horn, Han Li remained calm. The moment the golden flames appeared, he released six times his usual spiritual power to stabilize the silver barrier. The opponent was probably planning to wait until Han Li’s spiritual power was depleted and then burn him alive in the flames. If he hadn’t learned the technique to strengthen the protective barrier of the wolf-headed jade pendant beforehand, he probably wouldn’t have been able to withstand it. As Han Li analyzed, the power of the Golden Light Divine Flames was not comparable to the Azure Glacial Flames or the Asura Sacred Fire, but it was certainly greater than the Extreme Yin Heavenly Fire. If it were an ordinary late-stage Core Formation cultivator [a cultivation stage], they wouldn’t have lasted long in the golden flames. But who was Han Li? He frowned slightly, then took out a small bottle from his storage pouch. Looking down at the bottle, Han Li could only sigh. He couldn’t be happy about using the Myriad Year Spiritual Liquid [a rare spiritual elixir] he had just obtained like this. The world was truly unpredictable. If he hadn’t received the Myriad Year Spiritual Liquid from Yuan Yao, he probably wouldn’t have escaped death in the golden flames. But if he had ignored Yuan Yao and left, he wouldn’t have been in this danger either. Although it seemed like he was being pushed back, with the Myriad Year Spiritual Liquid, he had nothing to fear. There was no way Wen Quan, who had trapped him in the golden light and summoned the golden flames, had not paid a price. The opponent’s reckless attack would bring victory to Han Li. Thinking this, Han Li sat cross-legged inside the barrier and calmed his mind. He planned to finish off the successor of the Six Paths [a powerful demonic sect] the moment his magic power was depleted and faltered. From this point on, a bizarre scene unfolded. The two people, who had been exchanging attacks of immense power, sat in the void with their eyes closed, quietly passing the time. Only the golden flames, several feet high, burned silently. Zi Ling watched the scene with clear eyes and sighed inwardly. In her opinion, the outcome of this battle was practically decided the moment Han Li was trapped in Wen Quan’s golden flames. Although Han Li’s silver barrier was holding up now, it was unknown how long it would last. * * * The low-level cultivators, including the Mei siblings and Old Man Xiao, who were tens of miles away from the island, could not see the battle between Han Li and Wen Quan, but they could faintly sense the brilliant lights and explosions. Everyone’s expressions were grim. Unfortunately, they had expected that the white shadow was fighting a Core Formation cultivator on the island, so they couldn’t leave and were waiting. Now that even the sounds had stopped, they had no idea whether the battle was over or if something else had happened. * * * On the other side of the island, the women guarding the carriage pulled by ferocious spirit beasts were also whispering, their faces full of worry. They were nominally Wen Quan’s maids, but they were all no different from concubines who served him. If something happened to him, it was obvious what would happen to the maids who had returned to the Alliance. Time continued to pass. The sun set, and it was time for the sun to rise again. However, for more than half a day, there was still no change. Meanwhile, other cultivators began to appear around the island. They had flown in, wondering if a treasure had appeared due to the strange phenomenon nearby. Most of them were Foundation Establishment cultivators [a cultivation stage], but there were also quite a few Qi Refining cultivators [a cultivation stage] who didn’t know their place. However, they couldn’t approach the island any further after encountering Old Man Xiao’s group and the women around the carriage. The women in the carriage warned them, invoking the name of the Reverse Star Alliance [a powerful demonic organization]. As more time passed, Core Formation cultivators also began to appear, and unexpectedly, one of them was the Vice Island Lord of the Yellow Maple Island. They met Wen Quan’s maids and asked about the situation. The maids politely revealed Wen Quan’s identity to the Core Formation cultivators and requested them to leave. The two Core Formation cultivators were shocked. Even though the Yellow Maple Island maintained neutrality, they couldn’t ignore the power of a leader of the Demonic Path like the Six Paths Successor or the Reverse Star Alliance. The two cultivators naturally made up an excuse and immediately began to return the way they had come. They didn’t know what kind of treasure had appeared on the island, but if the successor of the Six Paths had already intervened, it was not something they could handle. Excluding those who had retreated after hearing the name of the Reverse Star Alliance, the number of low-level cultivators gathered around Old Man Xiao’s group reached almost forty. They were watching the island, hoping to find something that might fall out in the chaos. At that moment, a cyan pillar of light appeared on one side of the island and rose vertically. At the same time, the turbulent dark clouds gradually calmed and began to contract. Although the space they occupied was decreasing, the concentration of their dense energy created a sense of tension, as if they were witnessing the calm before a storm. Everyone watching the island was startled. Those with quick minds saw the pillar of light as a sign of a treasure appearing and their eyes lit up. Driven by uncontrollable greed, groups of a dozen or so began to prepare to fly to the island, eyeing each other. They thought that even if there were Core Formation cultivators, they couldn’t handle all of them at once since so many Foundation Establishment cultivators had gathered. However, the rest were watching the situation with cautious expressions. At the same time, Wen Quan’s maids, who had been anxiously waiting, also seemed to be unable to wait any longer and were approaching the island with the carriage. However, no one noticed that a strange black light suddenly flickered and a gap opened in the vast sea about a hundred miles from the island, and a large amount of black mist began to pour out from within. This mist was initially only a few feet in size, but it quickly expanded its range, and within the dense black mist, eerie sounds that were hard to distinguish as the wails of ghosts or the cries of beasts echoed, and bizarre black lightning flickered. Even more bizarre was that the fish near the black mist were throwing themselves into it as if possessed by something. In an instant, everything living was swept away and disappeared. But the black mist, not satisfied with this, continued to grow. However, no one noticed the unknown Ghost Demon [a demonic entity] that had approached the island where Yuan Yao was performing the Soul Return Technique. Han Li, trapped in the golden light, tilted the small bottle again and swallowed another drop of the Myriad Year Spiritual Liquid. It was already the fifth drop, but the golden light showed no signs of dimming. Fortunately, the golden flames around him had shrunk, which meant that the opponent’s magic power consumption was also enormous. Han Li, staring coldly at the bottle in his hand, raised his head and frowned as he looked at the dark clouds. He had also been watching the change caused by the cyan pillar of light that had just risen. He had confirmed that the pillar of light had originated from the valley, so Yuan Yao’s technique was certain, but the fact that the dark clouds had not yet cleared meant that the Soul Return Technique had not been completed. However, there was nothing he could do while still trapped in the golden light. As he let out a small breath, the magic treasures inside his body trembled as if they were about to burst out. * * * Wen Quan, floating above the golden flames, was turning pale as time passed. Each time the size of the flames decreased and the light of the golden barrier became murky, his horn had already shrunk by two-thirds. As the successor of the Six Paths, a look of fear was rising in his gloomy face, which he had never shown before. He, the owner of the magic treasure, knew best how powerful the golden barrier and flames were. When he had initially expected Han Li to withstand it for a moment, he had been giving him a lot of credit. When the opponent showed no reaction inside at first, he was honestly surprised. But when the opponent’s energy remained the same even after an hour, he gradually couldn’t hide his astonishment. Only then did he realize that he had done something foolish and that the opponent was not at all afraid of depleting his magic power. It was clear that he possessed a treasure or a miraculous technique that rapidly restored magic power. But he was already in a situation where he was riding a tiger. He had summoned the avatars of the True Demons and lost most of them, and then he had recklessly used the Eight Gates Golden Light Mirror, so his vitality was damaged and his cultivation had greatly decreased. If he were to fight Han Li again now, he had no chance of winning. Fortunately, treasures like the Myriad Year Spiritual Liquid couldn’t be infinite. That was why he had been stubbornly holding on until now. If he killed the opponent this time, he would have to suffer for twenty or thirty years to regain his original cultivation, but it wouldn’t be a waste. However, even now, the silver barrier in the golden flames showed no signs of collapsing. Wen Quan was gradually losing his composure and was trying to find a way to reverse the situation when he saw the cyan pillar of light and remembered something. He twisted his lips and coldly shouted at Zi Ling. “Zi Ling! Go immediately in the direction he came from and capture his companions. His technique has reached its peak, so they won’t have the strength to resist.” The gentle and kind appearance from before was nowhere to be seen. Zi Ling’s face hardened slightly at his words. As soon as she heard Wen Quan’s words, the intelligent Zi Ling understood his intentions. The so-called young master of the Reverse Star Alliance was planning a despicable tactic of taking hostages to threaten Han Li. Considering that Han Li had been acting as his protector and facing the enemy instead, they must have a deep relationship. The fact that he was resorting to such immoral methods showed that the successor of the Six Paths was truly at his limit. # 317